A lot of people get upset when their team is scheduled for a weekday afternoon playoff game. It’s hard to see if you work regular hours, the kids can’t watch if they’re at school, etc. etc. I get that. I note that a lot of the same people who complain about that also complain about games that go too late at night, but we’ll leave that go for now. The important thing is, yes, it sort of stinks if you can’t watch your guys in action.

The Indians and Astros kicking off at 2PM Eastern may not be great for those folks, but maybe they should take some comfort in the fact that the teams they are rooting for probably prefer it, at least for Game 1. Take it from Astros manager A.J. Hinch:

HOU manager AJ Hinch stayed at a hotel downtown last night, not wanting to fight morning traffic today. Also, after 4 days off, he's happy Astros/Indians are playing a day game. "I should thank Major League Baseball," he said. "I wouldn't want to wait until 7 o'clock to play."

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)